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Marketing isn’t the devil, but marketing also isn’t your friend. Marketing can be used in a terrible way, and more often marketers try to make it your friend, but marketing takes on no persona.

As an example, if you’ve ever purchased a recommended item from Amazon, liked an ad on Facebook, or went to a movie at a movie theater, then you’ve experienced value from marketing.

There are, however, many marketing tactics that I personally despise, and one of those is the line: You Deserve It.

While it might only be 3 words, “you deserve it”, this marketing tactic  attempts to touch on multiple emotions and thoughts. Let’s discuss why I dislike this marketing tactic so much.

The definition of “deserve” indicates a certain level of indebtedness to the person who is considered deserving. To me, this would suggest that what is “deserved” has already been earned.

After all, war veterans who deserved the Purple Heart honor didn’t have to purchase it, they had already earned it with their honor and bravery.

Here is the definition that I referenced for “deserve”:

“to merit, be qualified for, or have a claim to (reward,assistance, punishment, etc.) because of actions, qualities,or situation: to deserve exile; to deserve charity; a theory that deserves consideration.”

- Dictionary.com

Marketing on Desires

“You Deserve It” attempts to market to your desires. It attempts to throw all of your inhibitions out the window with the irrational argument of “you deserve it.” When we desire something, we would love anything to have it, but that doesn’t mean that we will go for it. “You deserve it” is a way to entitle you to your desires, regardless of what might be preventing you. This marketing tactic plays on desires.

Marketing on Weakness

“You Deserve It” is an attempt to weaken you. Things are holding you back from purchasing, but just the right marketing attack could easily undermine the restraints. There are a number of reasons that we won’t purchase something (often financial), but “you deserve it” attempts to undermine that restraint with something that transcends money, or any other restraints.

Marketing on Pride

I really dislike this part of the tactic. “You deserve it” attempts to market to your blind and overwhelming pride. I think that everyone has some level of pride (some more than others), and “you deserve it” attempts to play to this attribute. “You deserve it” tries to puff up your pride, and it tries to elevate the ego even higher.

Worse, it implies that anyone who says otherwise doesn’t find you deserving. Only the nice company and their product is on your side. Listen to them because they are in your corner! It tries to create a dichotomy in which people either believe you deserve it, or you don’t deserve it. Either you are worthy of the merit of forking over your hard earned money to purchase this product, or your not worthy of it.

You Don’t Deserve It

I hate to burst your bubble, but you don’t deserve it. You don’t buy something that is deserved. What is deserved is something that is already entitled to you. “Deserve” insinuates a certain level of indebtedness. When you deserve something, their is something that is indebted to you, and it should be received freely, or almost freely.

Think of it this way, if an honor is deserved, then someone else shouldn’t be able to effortlessly purchase it. You don’t deserve this, but you have the option to purchase (along with anyone else who is willing to crank out the money). Don’t be fooled by this marketing tactic, you don’t deserve what they have to offer.

Have you ever been persuaded by the “you deserve it” marketing tactic? Have you ever used this marketing tactic? Let us know in the comments.

The best work is often done with a rested mind. A tired person tends to rush, make mistakes, and have less concern for the quality of the outcome. This isn’t because they have no regard for work quality, but because they want things done quickly and they are not using time management.

As a frequent “running-on-fumes” go-getter, I believe I’m qualified to also talk about how incredible it is when I perform the same work when relaxed. This might seem obvious, but we rarely practice this idea which is also a contributor to why we are considered to be one of the most stressed out generations in history.

Relaxation is ultimately achieved by time management. This is because there is always plenty for us to do, and not enough time to do it all in one day. So, we try to fit as much as we can in one day, and that is the problem.

Giving Work a Rest: Time Management

Anytime that I’m working on a large project, I try to break it up over a time interval to lessen the job size. The idea is that once I complete one of these intervals, I will stop and rest. This is where I have a problem. Generally, I will continue working until I run out of time during the day.

Do I get ahead on the project? Yes, but it comes at a massive cost. Often, after doing one of these marathons, I head to sleep just to wake up early the next day and start it all over. The lack of sleep and added work load (self-imposed) compounds the drain that I begin to experience.

This is one of many things that I’m trying to make improvements on. In the next section, I’ll talk about some steps I’m taking to better my time management, and prevent over-exerting myself.

Tools for Time Management

Lists:

Lists! I love lists, and they are probably one of the best tools in my satchel. Written on paper, written in Notepad, or managed within my email software (I use Mozilla Thunderbird), lists are my favorite time management tool. Lists force us to:

• Plan out your goals.
• Prioritize them.
• Keep track of progress.
• and, have a visual on what is ahead.

Without lists, I work hard, but I can also easily meander. For instance, I’m writing this post as the result of a checklist and I prioritized it at the very top. It is allowing me to keep laser targeted focus on my goals at hand.

Timers:

Checklists are great, but they can become relatively meaningless without time constraints. Did you know that the US is supposed to use the metric system? We never put a deadline on when it was required, so we considered it voluntary and it has remained that way for many decades. Don’t let this happen! Set time constraints, and try to be aggressive.

There is a system called the Pomodoro Technique that makes use of 25 minute intervals followed by 5 minutes of rest. When 25 minutes is up, stop the task at hand and continue once the break is over.

Discipline:

This is the most important tool in anyone’s bag, and without it none of this will work. Use willpower to force time management changes. Set guidelines, time frames, lists and stick to them. Once all goals are achieved, be finished for the day. It is very hard for me to stop when I still see sunlight, but not doing so will lead to exhaustion, stress, and an ultimate failure of my time management goals.

Enjoy Your Time Management Success

It will take some time to settle into the new routine, and relapse to your old ways is possible, but stick to the plan. Less time will be spent on fixing mistakes, and reviewing work.

Be happy with the progress you have achieved with your time management, feel accomplished, and get some rest. When you wake up feeling refreshed, and ready to tackle anything that comes your way, you’ll be glad you did.

Do or did you have problems with working too hard? What techniques helped to control your time management? Do you find the quality of work is better when done with a rested mind?

The fact is that U.S.P.S. is in debt, lots of debt. They released the statement that they could be facing financial losses of up to $18.2 billion a year by 2015. With that said, they are looking to use the stamp increase, and the possibility of suspending Saturday delivery, to help them see black once again.

How Are People Reacting To The Price Increase?

Many of the people I’ve talked to are upset by the increase, even my brother voiced his disapproval when I mentioned it to him in conversation. The most common reaction being, “How can they be in debt when I’m receiving more junk mail now than ever before?”

And I must admit, my initial reaction after reading about the stamp increase was annoyance, like most other U.S.P.S. customers. I just sat there thinking, ”Come On! You just raised the price! Is that stupid nickel worth all the resulting lash-back you’re going to get? Seems like a Netflix move if you ask me!”

But after thinking about it for a minute or two, I realized something. Although 50 cents seems like a lot compared to the 39 it used to be just 6 years ago, it’s still extremely affordable. Imagine what effort goes into mailing a letter; the pickup, the sorting, the shipping, the sorting again, and finally the delivery, and we’re complaining about 50 cents?

How Much Would You Pay To Mail A Letter?

Let’s say I need to send a birthday card to a friend of mine in Hawaii… I’m not going to hand deliver it because flying myself and my card to Hawaii would be out of the question, regardless of how much I’d love to go to Hawaii. So instead, I spend just 50 cents to have my card flown all the way from Humbleville to Hawaii, less than what I’d pay for a candy bar.

Which brings me to my other point… There are so many times we carelessly spend 50 cents, without ever thinking twice! Whether you’re ordering a side of sour cream at your favorite Mexican restaurant, getting an orange gumball from the vending machine at the mall, or squashing a penny at the zoo, 50 cents seems like such an insignificant amount.

That doesn’t even include the things we carelessly buy that are more than 50 cents, like spending 1.59 on a 20 oz. bottle of soda or buying anything at the dollar store!

I know it sounds like I may have gotten a little off topic here, but the main point remains: How can I be upset about spending 50 cents to mail a letter across country when I’m so eager to spend it on something completely frivolous?

Forever Stamps To The Rescue

If my reasoning doesn’t help to quell the frustrations you have with this price hike, then I do have one more solution for you: Forever Stamps! Forever Stamps are a great product, and I’m really happy the postal service introduced them. Buy a ton of the Forever Stamps now, and hedge against the coming price increase.

It might be expensive up-front, but you’ll save yourself a good amount of money assuming you use stamps often.

What’s your opinion about the Postal Service increasing the price of stamps to 50 cents? Let us know in the comments!

I mentioned in a previous post that one of the important features of becoming a multimillionaire is diversification. Without going too technical, here is a brief definition of diversification from the Wikipedia article on the subject:

“Diversification means reducing risk by investing in a variety of assets. If the asset values do not move up and down in perfect synchrony, a diversified portfolio will have less risk than the weighted average risk of its constituent assets, and often less risk than the least risky of its constituents.”
- Wikipedia, “Diversification in finance“

It is not immediately intuitive how diversification of assets, that is, having multiple income streams will reduce your risk whilst keeping your expected returns constant. Here I present a little story to demonstrate the benefits of diversification.

Diversification Scenarios & Examples

SCENARIO 1: You’re on a game-show and the host offers two choices:

“I am going to flip one coin. If it’s heads you get $10,000. If it’s tails you leave with nothing. Alternatively, I won’t flip the coin and you can have $4,000 now?”

What does one do? Some people take the money and run, preferring to have something guaranteed, rather than risk getting nothing. Other people figure that they came with nothing and might as well take the chance to walk away with $10,000.

Furthermore, your expected pay-off from the coin flip is $5,000 (1/2 X $0 + 1/2 X $10,000). Since this is $1,000 more than the $4,000 guaranteed this person will take the gamble.

SCENARIO 2: You’re on a game-show and the host offers two choices:

“I am going to flip ten coins. Each coin will be worth $1,000 if it lands on heads. If the coin doesn’t land on heads then you get nothing from that coin only. Alternatively, I won’t flip the coins and you can have $4,000 now?”

What do you do? This scenario appears very different. Some people reason, I now have ten chances to get $1,000 at least so I’m very unlikely to walk away with nothing, I might as well take the gamble. Other people may disagree and argue that they would still rather have $4,000 guaranteed.

Diversification Discussion

Theoretically, your pay-off in scenario 2 does not change from scenario 1. You’re still expected to get $5,000 from the gamble (1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000 + 1/2 X $1,000). However, I guarantee that more people were willing to take the gamble in scenario 2 than in scenario 1.

Why is this the case even though your expected pay-off does not change?

It is because in the second scenario the previous risk has been spread across 10 different assets rather than risk it all in one go. Of course your returns may not be as high as the first gamble but then again your losses are not as low. This is the benefit of diversification. It helps sustain wealth across many different outcomes.

Did you take both gambles? Let us know in the comments!

Do you like what you’ve read? Tell your friends & family by sharing it with the Facebook and Tweet buttons below. Feel free to send me an email (mrmoneybanks<at>multimillionaireroad<dot>com), or find me on twitter @millionairer0ad. Whether good or bad, I want to hear from you all.

Protect Yourself From Fraud

Identity theft is a big problem in America. It’s estimated that it’s about a $3 trillion per year problem, to be specific. Identity theft can hurt credit scores, cost you money, and even harm your reputation.

While there are a number of scenarios that identity thieves might use to get personal information and take advantage of you financially, one of the most common avenues is through credit card theft.

Protecting credit cards is the first step in protecting your identity. Here are some of the best ways to avoid credit card fraud:

Look for SSL

There are some very basic steps you can take to keep credit cards safe when you’re buying things online. Yet, a surprising number of people miss these very basic things. The best example of this is SSL. Look to see that a site is secure before you put in a credit card number. The address will start with “https”, and the web browser probably has some indicator, as well, such as a closed lock.

Research Reputations of Online Vendors

You’re going to be pretty safe with buying something from Amazon.com. But buying something from discountpetandmedicalsupplies.com might be a different story. Take five minutes before you make a first-time purchase from any website to do a little reputation research. This will not only help you to avoid fraud and identity theft, it will also help you to avoid buying an awful product.

Keep Credit Cards Within View

This is a tough one to follow. Sure, it’s easy enough to keep your eyes on your credit card when you’re paying for gas at the pump or going through the line at the grocery store. But it’s harder to see your credit card when you hand it to a server at a restaurant, or when the hotel clerk has to take the card to the back room to run it. Try to use cash in those situations where the credit card might leave your sight.

Credit Card Skimming

Credit card skimming is one a newer technique used by identity thieves to steal credit card information. Essentially, it involves gathering credit card information using technology. For example, a skimmer might install a device at an ATM machine that will read your credit card number when you swipe it. There might even be a small camera hidden nearby to capture your PIN number. If an ATM or credit card machine looks suspicious, don’t use it.

Review Credit Card Statements

Most of us are guilty at one time or another of neglecting our credit card statements. This is just asking for trouble. Review your statement every month. Pay attention to small transactions that you don’t recognize. In some cases, an identity thief might charge just a few dollars to your account to make sure it’s legitimate, and then charge more later on. Be diligent about reviewing your credit card statements each month.

These steps won’t guarantee that you won’t become a victim of identity theft, but they will make it harder for an identity thief to get to you via your credit cards.

About the Author

David Rodwell is a seasoned writer in business and economics, taking a particular interest in payment processing. You can find more of his articles located at CreditCardProcessing.net.

• Are there small business ideas can I afford?
• What small business ideas do I have time to do?
• Which small business ideas fit my skills best?
• What experience do I have, and what small business ideas does it work best with?
• What small business ideas can I do without violating contacts (non-compete clauses, etc.)?

If you have trouble thinking of a small business idea, then you are in the right place. In this article, we are going to discuss different small business ideas that might be the perfect fit for you. We will try to offer different ideas that can compensate for some of the above limitations.

Food Carts

For those that are limited in their funding options, food carts might be the perfect fit. While they do require your time, you should have no problems getting a food cart started for under $10,000.

People typically think of Hot Dog Carts when they think of food carts, but there are also Sushi carts, BBQ, and any other type of food you can think of. You don’t have to be limited by social norms in this business!

Costs: Depending on what type of cart, your location agreements, and other miscellaneous costs, you might even be able to get up and running for under $5,000. You can expect to pay around $500 for licensing, and the cart prices will vary drastically. Whether it is new or used, and  how fancy it is, you can get a cart for as little as $900, all the way on up to multiple thousands.

Food Trucks

Recently, food trucks have exploded in popularity in many areas (spurring websites such as FindLAFoodTruck and MobiMunch). These are no longer the stereotypical trucks that pull up to construction sites. Now, you can find anything from Mobile Cupcakes to Mobile Mexican/Asian fustion!

Costs: Food trucks get you closer to that full-blown restaurant feel, and with that comes the costs. While you can get into a food cart for a few thousand, food trucks will cost in the 10′s of thousands, and can even get into the 6 figures if it is a very elaborate set up. Entrepreneur magazine estimates that you can pay upwards of $75,000 to bust into the food truck business.

Small Vending Machines

If you are limited in your time, then small vending machines might be a great route for you to go. These will typically consist of those vending machines that you see at grocery store exits and take-out storefronts that dispense candy or small toys. These are great as they won’t sell out as quickly as a food vending machine located in an office building, and the machines are cheaper upfront.

The main drawback is you’ll need more machines out there to make up for the lower revenue (typically 25-50 cents per vend). The other draw back is the decrease in people carrying around cash and change.

Costs: New machines can cost anywhere from $150 up to multiple thousands for really elaborate ones. Licensing should only cost a few hundred, but location prices will vary greatly. Sometimes you can get lucky and do a profit sharing agreement with the location owner.

Starting A Website

Starting a website can be an excellent way to leverage your free time for starting a business, but it definitely comes with its drawbacks. If you anticipate earning revenue from advertising, then it can take upwards of a year or more to generate enough traffic to earn anything meaningful.

In addition to that, you have to be technologically comfortable enough to deal with some of the issues such as: backing up data, restoring backups, fixing coding issues, and marketing. You need a lot of patience when starting a website as a business. If you need additional information, be sure to read our article titled Starting A Website.

Costs: Generally, it shouldn’t cost more than a few hundred to get a website off the ground for a year, but other things such as inventory, marketing, and shipping can cause the price to go up infinitely.

Franchises

If money isn’t really a concern, but expertise or risk is, then franchises are the perfect match. They allow you to start your business without the fear of “going it alone.” Generally, the franchiser will offer training, ongoing coaching, advertising, and a prepackaged format for you to follow.

While many entrepreneurs consider these things limitations, it might be perfect for you as a first time business owner. Following someone else’s lead will help you to understand how to do things right and wrong. Remember, franchises are not a guaranteed thing, so don’t let the confidence of a name you know lull you into laziness.

Costs: Franchise costs are going to vary. Some may have storefronts, while others might be a vehicle. Regardless, you can expect to pay an application fee, franchise fees, and advertising fees. On top of that, you may have to buy your materials from the franchiser, or from their approved vendors. For more information Entrepreneur Magazine has an excellent list of franchises along with estimated costs.

The authors of The Millionaire Next Door discovered something not so astonishing about the world’s millionaires: they control money & live within their means. Many like to brush it off with excuses like:

• “If I wanted to, I could!” I’ve heard smokers say the same thing. Many of which can’t.
• “If I couldn’t afford it, I wouldn’t be able to buy it.” At a high enough interest rate, someone will lend money.
• “I make enough money.” Do you save enough money? Income is meaningless when pulled into a vacuum of spending.

No Excuses

In order to learn how to live within your means, the first step is to boot the excuses. The time to be an adult and get rid of them is now. Most don’t know where any of their money goes by the end of month, and everyone complains that they need to make more money. Everyone is worn out, discontent, anxious, and wondering when things will get better financially.

Things will get better once control is regained. The fact is there are people prospering right now, and not because of some magical infomercial they saw late at night, but because they choose to live within their means.

Taking Control of Money

The next step in learning how to live within your means is to take control of money. Right now, the majority of people let money control them. They are on a constant treadmill of work, pay bills, work, pay bills, work, paybills and pay that new bill I just added. This is unsustainable! The goal should be to control money, not the other way around. After all, only one master can be served.

How To Control Money:

• Track it: Track money to see where it goes. It will take a little while to get enough useful data, but trends will show right away. I made a Mint.com video review which is the tool I use.
• Understand it: Look at the reports and figure out how your money is being spent. Surprise is imminent.
• Cut it: Cut unnecessary spending. This may require tough choices, but be strict with your definition of what is necessary.
• Keep faithful: Keep this system going. Doing this for a month or two is a waste of time. It will take a while to see results.

Learn To Say “No”

Often, we are afraid to tell friends that we just can’t do something. We’re worried about what they’ll think. “Will they think I’m too poor?” Stop worrying about what other people think. If your friends abandon you because they think you’re poor, then they were poor friends. Your friends need to be on your side in learning how to live within your means!

Be upfront and let them know that you’re trying to save money. They’ll probably still try to persuade, but remain steadfast. Learning how to say “no” is a strong tool in your pouch for taking control of your spending. It’s not “fun” but it works.

Spend Less Than You Earn

Ultimately, your goal is to spend less than you earn. Once that is achieved, your income will finally be enough. You’ll finally begin building savings and good habits to last for the remainder of your life. The constant nag of “you need to earn more money” will fade. The option to actively earn more money will be available, or you can let your savings do that work.

Who knows, maybe you’ll end up starting a business. You’ll have the confidence to know that you can manage your business properly, and control money going into and out of it.

Make Money a Tool

Money needs to be put back into its rightful place as a tool. Too many live for money, and it destroys lives. If money is anything more than a tool in your life, then reconsider what truly matters. I know it is cliche, but you can’t take money with you when you pass.

On a spiritual level, Jesus said that a person cannot serve two masters, and this is so very true. If you live for money, as the world wants, then not only will you have the problems mentioned in this article, but you also run the risk of serving the wrong master.

Anyone who doesn’t believe that people can be a slave to money and their own greed is sorely mistaken. It only takes a few Google searches to find story after story of people who have lost everything in their pursuits for more money (many of them were already million and billionaires!).

With such big names stepping out of the shadows of the private company realm, and stepping into the light of the publicly traded, I have to say that I’ll be sitting this one out.

There are probably 100 hundred reasons people will give you to invest in Facebook, and in all honesty, it could turn out to be an awesome investment, but I have 5 reasons why I won’t touch Facebook stock unless it is given to me.

1. Consumer Trends

Do you remember Yahoo Chat? AOL? How about Friendster, Xanga, LiveJournal, or Myspace? All of these companies were well known social sites in their own regard. Each of them is left as a hollow shell of what they once were. They stand timidly in the shadows of their former greatness. Each company was left for the next in mass exodus after mass exodus for the next company with a cool idea.

Consumers are fickle, especially when they aren’t financially attached to something. All it takes is one company to come out with a better product or a better system. When you’ve got hungry companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft looking at you, there will be an unending power struggle.

2. Uninformed Hype

I walked into an office and heard some people saying “I think going public means they’ll be selling stock.” Followed up by “Facebook is going to sell their stock? I’m In!” I’m not an elitist in any definition of the word, but a certain truth exists in what Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. said about an experience he had while getting his shoes shined:

“It is time to get out of the market when I receive stock tips from a shoe-shine boy.”

I think it is great for people to get interested in investing, and learning how to do it properly, but the conversation I walked in on was people talking about tossing their hard-earned money into the stock market just because they’ve heard of a company and used their service. That isn’t stock investing, that is gambling.

A Facebook IPO guarantees one thing: There will be rampant speculation not only by people who know what they are doing, but they will probably be outnumbered by speculators who have no clue what they are doing. That means the stock price will be driven up unnecessarily, and without warrant.

3. Privacy Revolution

While this is less likely, it is certainly a possibility, and we’ve seen bouts of it pop up. Privacy revolution is certainly a real thing. People are often startled when I can type their name into a website, pull up their address, phone number, and immediate family members.

All it takes is a real scare to have people leave Facebook in droves. An attack, such as the one mentioned below, could be just the thing to completely ruin Facebook’s business. We hear privacy advocates constantly in the media talking about the dangers of Facebook. If those danger’s are ever realized, it could spell doom.

4. Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks rarely occur (done with the sarcasm). All it would take is one simple breach of Facebook to have all the very personal data stolen. If publicized well enough it could trigger my concern #3 (Privacy Revolution). If it doesn’t, a proper attack could cripple their infrastructure entirely. No infrastructure, no Facebook.

5. Government Intervention

Depending on on how things continue moving, government intervention could become a problem. With a lot of the very loose cyber-bullying legislation constantly being proposed, and the government’s need to intervene where it ought not to (Durbin Amendment Anyone? By the way, I was right, it isn’t saving consumers money like they promised) we could easily see government hamper the success of Facebook.

Examples of legislation that could destroy Facebook:

• SOPA
• PIPA
• Some loosely termed Cyber Bullying legislation

Are there reasons to consider investing in Facebook? Absolutely! But I won’t be partaking. Each of the reasons I listed above are perfectly real, and I’m sure that some combination of them will exist and affect Facebook. Will it take the company down? I don’t know, but there is a good enough track record with their competition that I don’t anticipate finding out.

We had some good ideas to try out.

Hi Everyone!

You’ve probably noticed that Wealth Artisan is looking really different. We’re excited to announce that we are currently in the midst of pretty big updates. There’s a lot of great things coming down the line, but you’ll just have to wait to see what those are. We’re doing our best not to break anything, but if you notice the site acting up a bit, I certainly do apologize.

I imagine that the changes will take a few weeks to implement, but I’ll be sure to follow up with a post to let you know when everything is completed, and it will also highlight many of the changes. I’m sure it’ll be pretty clear what has changed, but for unobservant people (such as myself sometimes) I think it’s good to point these things out.

I’ll continue posting on a regular basis during this time, but I wanted to give you an update so you don’t think you’ve ended up at the wrong website, or think that our site has been sieged by pirates. Have a very happy Monday, and I can’t wait for everything to be completed.

Thanks,

Timothy Artisan

Customer Service Is Everyone’s Job

Your business should have an all-hands-on-deck approach to customer service. If your accountant gets a call because the customer called the wrong number, then they shouldn’t just provide the correct phone number, they should get someone on the line with the customer to help them.

If your actual customer service representatives have a bad attitude, then you need to try to shape them up or replace them. It is too easy for customers to find one of your competitors and price them out. Losing a customer over something as silly as a bad customer service experience is absurd!

Don’t Take It Personally

When a customer complains, don’t take it personally. What you need to do is personally accept responsibility for correcting the problem. There are some businesses out there that know they have problems, and just hope daily that their customers won’t notice or complain.

What a horrible plan! Customer complaints should be considered a free piece of Gold. I routinely give out complaints in hopes that businesses will correct them. This is because I understand the value of a customer complaint. I believe Zig Ziglar said it best:

“Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.”

- Zig Ziglar, About.com

I’ve offered advice to Blockbuster, Netflix, Cable Companies, Burger King, and countless others. I’ve never received formal feedback, but I hope that the information was well received.

Ending “It’s Not My Job”

Today is the day for you to formally end the “It’s not my job” mentality. Customers need to know that your company is there for them, and every one of your employees depends on your customers for their paycheck. Therefore, it is only reasonable that everyone be responsible for the experience the customer receives.

“It’s not my job” is a business illness that needs to be remedied as soon as possible. Your business will do so much better when everyone on board has a customer-centric attitude. Think of how different your business could be if every employee offered suggestion on ways to improve the experience!

Create The Proper Climate

You, as the leader, needs to create a climate conducive to this attitude. You must nurture your employees desires to offer improvement suggestions. You don’t have to employ every idea you receive, but at least let your employees know you are listening.

Consider implementing a system that employees can use. Be sure to not turn it into the ubiquitous “suggestions box” that no one uses or checks. Create a meaningful, useful system, and use it! You’ll probably be surprised at just how much insight you can get from people who often don’t have opinions about anything.